Sunday morning quick-hit over coffee

[lagilman]

Having words with the felines this morning and I realized that "furry son of a bitch" really didn't work. What is a breeding cat called? Oh, a queen. Right. Well, that explains a lot, dunnit?

Back to work this morning, fortified with bagels and coffee. The apartment is unbelievably messy, but we're inching along toward deadline. But first, a few items:

stephen_dedman tagged me with

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me!"
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will post the answers to the questions (and the questions themselves) on your blog or journal.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5.When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.
---------------------------------
1. Favourite restaurant?
oh maaaaaan. All right, I'm going not just on the basis of food but the most joyous, enjoyable overall experience, from food to service to companions, and that would be The Dining Room in Short Hills, NJ. Alas, it seems to have fallen from its previous white glove, five-star glory. *is sad* Hard second would be a tiny little place in Italy where I first had boar ragu, and the waiter tried to buy me off my dad. :-)

2. Favourite annual con?
World Fantasy

3. How old were you when you decided you wanted to be a writer?
Eight. Maybe nine. I was eleven when I decided editorial might be a good fallback choice.

4. You're given a billion dollars (US, not Australian or Zimbabwean) on the condition that you give half of it to one charity. What charity do you pick?
Planned Parenthood.

5. How many cats is too many?
Two cats per person in the household is the feline-acceptable ratio of human-to-cat attention. MOre, and they have to wait too long to be fed/scritched.


In the world outside, the Catholic Church is getting tighter, as Pope Benedict XVI revoked the excommunications of four schismatic bishops, including one whose comments denying the Holocaust have provoked outrage. Way to go, Bennie. Bring back that Old Time Religion. You're already advocating women-as-chattel-of-man, so what's next, forced conversions* and the stoning of non-believers? News flash: it's not the umpteenth century more. Going small-and-hardcore isn't going to win you any Crusades, and the wealthy aren't tithing their estates to you.....

But while I'll be watching Bennie and his extreme right-wing adherents carefully, I refuse to let it dim my mood. As I said to a friend overseas, there is a sense of 'we may survive' in the air here now. It won't last, but the lifting of the Bush malaise has been just amazing to feel, like knowing that the class bully and his cohort have been shipped off, at long last, to reform school....
--------------------------

Dinner last night was extremely good, and deadly easy: Soak flounder fillet in teriyaki sauce and brown sugar and a dash of sesame oil. Heat skillet. Brown two cloves of garlic and a scattering of sesame seeds in safflower oil. Slide fillet into pan, cook over medium heat until flesh flakes easily. Plate and quickly cook string beans in same pan until they turn a more brilliant green. Nom nom nom. Boomer approved; the gonif tried to take it right off my plate.

I will not be having haggis tonight however, piped in or no. I had some on New Year's Day (no piper) an that's enough for the year.




*apparently, part of the recent concessions from the Church have included considering a Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews. I'm sure that will make many people soil themselves in ecstasy. Pagans and other-believers, this is your wakeup call; we may be the favored targets, but you're on the list too, I'm sure....

Comments

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Hey, if the Internet considered "Jew" a race, we could toss Pope Benedict into the current flamewar . . .

[lagilman]

Alas, I was told in pretty uncertain terms that being Jewish did not mean I was capable of talking about discrimination. At that point I went "sod this" and went off to do something useful.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I got a similar response (being married to a Jew, and therefore the father of Jew-boys).

[windrose.livejournal.com]

That still makes me boggle.

this is NOT to be used as flamewar bait, damn it, I'm just thinking out loud....

[lagilman]

The entire game of "My Trauma is More Important Than Yours" on any side just irritates me, be it cultural or personal. Is one genocide, one enslavement, one culture-wide betrayal more terrible than another, and therefore the survivors more Worthy, after? What are the guidelines? Who decides? And at what point is payment made and the bill closed out, or does it keep going forever?

And if we keep pointing fingers and saying who is and is not worthy, then all we're doing is perpetuating the divides, not bridging them. But I guess that's what some people [see: Pope Bennie] want. Argh.

Re: this is NOT to be used as flamewar bait, damn it, I'm just thinking out loud....

[windrose.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking pretty much the exact same thing. :/

Re: this is NOT to be used as flamewar bait, damn it, I'm just thinking out loud....

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Well, remember the guy's history. If there was no Holocaust, he gets less tainted. And he's sure the sharpest knife in the drawer, no question.

I heard about that flamewar. Bleah.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

Turnabout's fair play. Ask away!

[lagilman]

hrmmm...


1. If you had to take the academic track again, would you?
2. What's the most embarrassing CD (or 8-track!) you own?
3. Ale or lager?
4. Why do some [note emphasis] Australians feel the need to, apparently with a straight face, lecture Yankees about civil rights and respecting native cultures?
5. What is it with the "Aussie, oi oi oi" chant, anyway?

(we ran into a number of Australians at the Inauguration, so these questions are much on my mind)

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

1. At the age I am now, under current circumstances, no. If I had my life to relive, yes, and I probably would have started earlier if possible.
2. I culled my collection of the worst stuff last time I moved house, so it's probably the rather mediocre recording of an Australian stage production of Godspell. I used to own a copy of the soundtrack on vinyl, and felt the urge to replace it, and that was the only version I could find. For the record, I've never owned an 8-track, though I do still have some cassettes and LPs (but nothing to play them on).
3. I've never acquired a taste for either, or any other alcoholic beverage.
4. I wasn't aware this happened, so I apologise, because that's one area where our own record is arguably even worse. But maybe, having some idea of how little geography is taught in US schools, they expect some Americans not to know this, or even that we have a native culture.
5. No idea. My best guess is that it's difficult to forget the words, even if you're drunk. (Hey, I didn't ask you why all your banknotes are the same size and colour, did I?)

[lagilman]

re: 4 -- I admit, my first reaction when asked was to reply in kind, but I decided to be a Better Ambassador. I suspect the person in question is My Country,Right or Wrong, and would be no matter where they lived. Alas, they are legion and in every land.

re: 5: *laugh* It was cute, actually -- a bunch of teenagers in DC, filming the crowd and getting everyone to chant with them. At 6am it was...somewhat surreal.

(and our money is all the same size because that way they don't have to have separate machines/die cuts for each denomination. They're not the same color, now, thought (still greenish, but not all green. I kinda miss greenbacks.)

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

The only greenbacks I'm likely to miss are the ones I've handed over in poor lighting, having mistaken them for lower denominations.

[lagilman]

Ooops.

(my US currency annoyance is that people seem incapable of using dollar coins, which I really like.)

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Used to be that some of the banknotes were gold-colored, at a time when you could actually exchange them for that substance. Kind of nice.

[kradical.livejournal.com]

Hit me with questions....

[lagilman]

oh lord...trying to come up with answers I don't think I know the answers to already....

1. Given that e-books require power to be accessed, unlike a paper book, can you justify e-books as being 'Green?'
2. What was the first comic book you ever bought?
3. Choose one, and why: ice cream or scotch
4. Why in god's name did you join FB?
5. Pittsburgh or Arizona?

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Eh, as a Catholic I was pissed off when the Rat was picked for Popehood, and I'm still not happy with him. Then he picked my former Archbishop (Levada) to replace him at the Inquisition, and at that point I knew the Rat had not changed his stripes.

Still holding out for the current Archbishop of Chicago (also a former Archbishop of my diocese). Nice guy, has this presence around him--still think he's papabile, despite the cancer. Very much a man of the people. Francis George. He was mentioned as a possibility and I was pulling for him--but then the Rat got the nod.

[house-draven.livejournal.com]

Go ahead, interview me. Maybe it'll make me think hard and long about myself, which would be a good thing. And then in turn, make me think good and hard about questions for others on my flist, which would also be a good thing.

The brain, it is requiring stimulation.

[lagilman]

1. Durian: devil's work or god's idea of a practical joke?
2. Glory or wealth?
3. What's the worst movie you ever willingly sat through?
4 If they made an e-book reader that projected the words on the ceiling so you could read while in bed [page-turning remote included], would you buy it?
5. Should Bush et al be investigated for possible war crimes [note I'm not saying prosecuted, but investigated] now that he's out of office?

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Oh, sure, I'll play the interview game if you're up for it. I haven't for a while. :)

[lagilman]

1. Have you ever had a day where you weren't sick, but did absolutely nothing other than sleep and watch tv/read?
2. What do you miss the most about Alaska?
3. What is your superpower?
4. Lions or tigers, and why?
5. Is there something Chef Ted as made that you really, really hated?

[smoemeth.livejournal.com]

Ahh, Pope Palpatine I. Reminding me every day why I turned my back on the Church 20 years ago. *sigh*

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

"What is a breeding cat called? Oh, a queen. Right. Well, that explains a lot, dunnit? "

Pandora isn't spayed?

I sighed about the Pope. It seems we just got rid of one idiot, and then another one pops up. I told my DH that I preferred John-Paul II, and he said he didn't. According to the DH, Bennie brings out the "real" character of the Catholic church.

[lagilman]

Pandora is indeed spayed, and Boomer is neutered. But since they exist, and are not CloneKittehs, clearly they are the offspring of queens....


and DH does indeed have a point. I'd hoped they could evolve into something less, um, Paulian, but it seems not.

[fakefrenchie.livejournal.com]

"But since they exist, and are not CloneKittehs, clearly they are the offspring of queens.... "

Oh, I get it now. The Princess mentality. duh! 'Cusez-moi.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

*apparently, part of the recent concessions from the Church have included considering a Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews. I'm sure that will make many people soil themselves in ecstasy. Pagans and other-believers, this is your wakeup call; we may be the favored targets, but you're on the list too, I'm sure....

I was raised Catholic.

I'm not any more, and this is a good chunk of the reason why.

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

Also, you can interview me.... (wondering if this is a good idea after all)

[lagilman]

*looks innocent*

1. Do you still harbor murderous urges toward the copyeditor of "post-prandial brandy" infamy?
2. if you could take only one DVD set for that traditional deserted desert island, would it be Quantum Leap or KF:TLC?
3. Did you ever sitting in the office of your last job, fantasize about going postal?
4. red or green chiles? (don't give me crap about the spelling, McConnell)
5. would you choose to relive any decade of your life, knowing you couldn't change anything major?